HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY...
...for those outside of Uzbekistan, anyway!It's been wonderful having a bit more time to spend with family these post-conference days. This past week Sonia & paid a visit to the Palace Square (where the Hermitage is situated) to tour the amazing ice palace (see Did You Know... for more). Yesterday afternoon the entire family went to the St. Petersburg Circus (Deena's first visit) for a great family show. We're starting to feel the shortness of opportunities to enjoy our soon-to-be-former home, but are certainly thankful for the opportunity to serve in such a unique place!
We pray that you will be able to take advantage of all the opportunities you have to enjoy the loved ones in your life!
– Kevin, Lena, Sonia, Maya & Deena
P.S. Please view the Circus and Ice Palace pictures at our Flickr site!COMING TO CANADA
Petmol, Nico, Pekar, Blend-a-Med, Fairy... familiar brands to us in Russia, but likely a bit hard to recognize in southern Manitoba! Lena will certainly need some help when it comes to shopping in Canada–not too many similarities on our grocery shelves! Would some of you avid shoppers mind jotting down some of your shopping wisdom during the next few months? It would be a great help to Lena if she had some kind written guide to shopping in a foreign land! (Perhaps a ladies groups would like to tackle such a "guide" together?)
BLESSINGS
We recently received a very special blessing from relatives in Germany. My mother's cousins had been told of our work and had begun giving monthly towards our ministry. A partner mission in Germany collected the gifts and managed to pass them our way this past month. How wonderful it was to learn of such secret giving!
We've been searching for affordable ways to travel to Canada, but found little by way of reasonable rates for our awkwardly-timed travel plans. Recently though we were blessed with not one, but two affordable possibilities. First a friend who is an Air Canada pilot offered to take our family back to Canada on his airline passes. Then we discovered that Siama could get a super (one-way, high season) rate for us. Praise God for such assistance!
PETITIONS
It has been eight weeks since my application to sponsor Lena & Sonia for immigration to Canada reached Canada. Please continue to pray for a positive outcome to the process!
A major post-conference project for us is the creation of several video montages for churches and camp sponsors. Please pray for Lena G. who will be heading up the project in our office.
DID YOU KNOW...
...that a replica of an ice palace that used to belong to Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna has been built in St. Petersburg? The replica also includes a sauna and an ice slide shaped like an elephant!
...that the Empress who commissioned the original ice palace once ordered her court jester and his new bride to spend the night in the ice palace? The next morning they were found unconscious, but the doctors managed to revive them. All ended happily: the jester family
went on to have four kids!
...that the Hermitage has kindly announced that pensioners can tour the ice palace for free? The only catch: they must come between 9 and 10 in the morning!!!
ESSENTIAL INFO
Kevin & Lena Hamm are missionaries with Mennonite Brethren Mission and Service International, serving with Christian Camping International/Russia in St. Petersburg, Russia.
A printable version in Adobe Acrobat format is always available for download.
Visit www.krhamm.com/pray for links to print versions, archives and more.
For more on our ministry in Russia, please visit www.krhamm.com.
You can help! Please visit www.krhamm.com/support for ways you can help our family & ministry.
Hundreds of our recent photos can be viewed at Flickr.com.
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